Sacramento -- - A strong majority of Californians support Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to raise the sales tax and income taxes on high earners to help close the state's budget deficit, according to a new Public Policy Institute of California poll.

The poll - an early measurement of a proposal that has far to go until voters can weigh in in November - found that 65 percent of all adults surveyed support his plan, which would increase the sales tax by a half cent and raise taxes on high-income earners, starting with individuals who make more than $250,000 per year.

The poll also found deep concern among state voters about further cuts to K-12 public education and that Californians see their local government services as significantly impacted by multiple years of state budget cuts as lawmakers and the governor have struggled to balance the budget.

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These findings come as the Brown administration will announce today what automatic midyear budget cuts will be implemented.

As part of the state budget deal signed earlier this year, automatic cuts that could total $2 billion would be implemented if tax revenues roll in at a lower level than anticipated.

The Legislative Analyst's Office projected last month that revenues would fall billions short and require automatic cuts, with most of that impacting K-12 public schools, higher education and some social services.

Driving the support

Concerns about further cuts to public education along with the impact of cuts already made to a number of services is driving support for the governor's plan, said Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of the policy institute that conducted the poll.

Along with that, targeting the wealthy for additional tax revenues combines the most popular elements of what voters want to fund and how they are willing to pay for it, he said.

"I think it's significant, certainly, for the governor to put together a plan that enjoys popular support at the outset," Baldassare said, adding. "This is the starting point. It's certainly not the end point."

On the question of the impact of cuts made the past few years to balance the state's budget, 89 percent of adults said the spending reductions had affected local government services, including county and city budgets and public schools. Additionally, 85 percent of adults surveyed said they are "very" or "somewhat" concerned about the impact of automatic spending cuts.

In a statement responding to the poll, Brown said, "California still faces damaging budget cuts, so it's encouraging that so many citizens are willing to consider some modest, temporary tax increases."

His proposed increases in the sales and income taxes, if approved by voters, would go away after five years. The plan would generate approximately $7 billion per year - significantly short of the $13 billion deficit that the legislative analyst has projected for next year - and would be placed into a special account that could only be spent on K-12 schools and community colleges.

Under California's complex education funding formulas, placing that money in a special fund would free up general fund money for other state services.

That measure would increase taxes on everyone but very low-income earners, with the wealthiest bearing the bulk of the increase that would amount to $10 billion a year in additional tax revenue. The money would be dedicated to specific programs, and neither the Legislature nor the governor would be able to change that.

Brown has said he wants to convince those behind this proposal, and other tax measures, to support his instead. The survey asked only about the governor's plan, though, and not the others.

Carol Kocivar, president of the state PTA, was careful not to criticize the governor's plan in an interview, but did not indicate an openness to dropping support for the competing measure.

"It's an interesting situation where we have a number of proposals and initiatives here that everyone needs to look at," Kocivar said. "The reason the PTA stepped forward and supported 'Our Children, Our Future' is it really does clearly reflect what our parents identified our children need."

Along with findings about the tax proposal, the poll found Brown's approval rating holding relatively steady at 42 percent, while the Legislature's approval rating remained largely stable at 25 percent.

The poll results are based on a survey of 2,003 California adult residents and have a margin of error of 3.6 percentage points. Results of the specific question on the governor's tax plan were based on a survey of 1,012 people and has a margin of five percentage points.